Bummer.
Former top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight contender — and perhaps the biggest “what if” in promotional history — Zabit Magomedsharipov was supposed to return to competition for the first time in nearly seven years this weekend.
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Magomedsharipov was scheduled to face current UFC Bantamweight Raul Rosas Jr. in a no-gi grappling match at ACBJJ 21 this Sunday (July 5, 2026) in Moscow, Russia.
Unfortunately, it is not happening anymore.
Magomedsharipov suffered an injury and has been forced to withdraw from the matchup. Stepping in to replace him will be his younger brother, Khasan Magomedsharipov, who will now headline the card against Rosas Jr.
Zabit revealed on his Instagram story that he will still attend the event despite being unable to compete.
Khasan is fresh off a first-round submission win at PFL San Diego last weekend (watch highlights).
For longtime Zabit fans, the cancellation is disappointing, but probably not all that shocking.
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Magomedsharipov had a couple of high-profile canceled fights during his UFC run, which ultimately contributed to his early exit from mixed martial arts (MMA). The now-35-year-old has not competed since his unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in the main event of UFC Moscow back in 2019.
He was later scheduled to face Yair Rodriguez in Aug. 2020, but Rodriguez withdrew from the bout, and Magomedsharipov never made the walk to the Octagon again.
His surprise signing with ACBJJ caught fans off guard because he had been out of the spotlight for several years. It also sparked speculation that maybe — just maybe — Zabit was testing the waters for some kind of return to combat sports.
For now, though, the wait continues.
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Zabit will still be in the building, but once again, fans will not get to see one of MMA’s great “what ifs” compete.
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